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Percolation of a cohesive fine particle in a static bed

Jizhi Zhang1, Qiong Zhang2, Julio M. Ottino2,3,4, Paul B. Umbanhowar2, and Richard M. Lueptow2,3,4,*

  • *Contact author: r-lueptow@northwestern.edu
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 033336 – Published 18 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ndnk-2x1g

Abstract

Percolation of fine particles (fines) in a static bed of larger particles is central to many industrial and natural processes. Noncohesive fines either pass through the bed or become trapped depending on multiple factors including particle sizes, friction and restitution coefficients, and size polydispersity. Here, we consider the additional factor of cohesion in the single-particle limit. We use the discrete element method to simulate gravity-driven percolation of non-self-interacting cohesive fine particles through a static bed of randomly packed large particles; fines interact with bed particles but not with each other. A large-to-fine particle diameter ratio of seven geometrically permits noncohesive fines to pass the narrowest pore throats formed by the large particles so they can freely percolate. However, sufficiently large cohesion and friction lead to nongeometric trapping. Fines are trapped when they fail to rebound after a collision, due to large cohesion, low restitution, and low collision velocity, and any subsequent rolling or sliding is insufficient to cause detachment. This establishes a sequence of local interactions—collision, adhesion, and postcontact motion—that governs the ultimate fate of a fine particle. A collisional model that incorporates a trapping probability per collision and a collision frequency predicts the trapping distance in the regime dominated by collision-induced trapping. For nonrebounding collisions, frictional effects are enhanced by cohesion and, when large enough, prevent the fine particle from subsequently detaching. A static equilibrium condition based on force balance predicts whether a fine particle remains stationary after contact. These results show that percolation of cohesive fine particles in the single-particle limit is not determined by geometric accessibility alone, but also by particle-scale interaction dynamics that can override geometric expectations.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 033336– Published 18 September, 2026
  • Received 14 May 2026
  • Accepted 26 August 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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